Keynotes
Bringing a shared language and question into the room.
Work
Experience
Meaning
From words to values.
Giving values substance by recognizing—and acknowledging—the experiences behind them.
Experiences without meaning remain incidents.Meaning without experience lacks credibility.
Meaning-making is a social process.
What is an organization? Is it a machine with resources? A close-knit family?
Or more like a garden that needs tending?
I think an organization is the label we use to describe purposeful collaboration between people. And that these people determine together what their organization means through stories, symbols, and rituals. Through what matters (values), and the rules that follow from it (norms).
Since Karl Weick’s work, we have known that meaning-making is a social process.
A process of alignment between employees’ lived world and the organization’s system world.
Leaders are responsible for that process.
The conversation belongs to everyone.
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The book
Meaning & Bullshit
What happens when subjects such as identity and ethics are taken over by the marketing department? How credible are companies’ polished words—and can it be done differently?
I wrote a book about the lessons from my work on meaning in organizations. About the outside, and the inside.
Order now“Anyone untouched by this book should ask what they are actually doing.”
Working with Values Driven
The format follows the question.
Programs
Connecting experience, meaning, and daily practice.
Leadership sessions
Improving the quality of relationships—with yourself, one another, and the organization.
Advisory
An honest, human perspective grounded in twenty years of experience.
References
What stays with people.
“Through his message, Stephan Ummelen invited national leadership to reflect: who are we, and what do we stand for?
How do you truly reach employees, and how do you move shared values from abstraction into practice?
Not only his ideas, but also his practical examples and interventions immediately hit home.”
“At our annual management event, Stephan offered a powerful dose of inspiration about the values-driven organization—with several useful ideas for bringing those values to life. A pleasure to work with.”
“During our Values Week, Stephan inspired and challenged us with a talk about integrity and living our values in practice. Sharp, energetic, scientifically grounded, and above all vividly told.”